Sbrisolona Cookies and a Tea Lover's Advent Calendar

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The holiday season is creeping up on us quickly!  Not only do I have a gift idea for those of you who are tea lovers or for friends and family who love tea, but I also have a delicious new cookie recipe for you!  

This lovely Adagio Tea Advent Calendar is available for purchase now!  You want to order quickly so you can open the first door and enjoy your first tea surprise on December 1st!  This is not a paid post. I received this calendar from Adagio Teas in order to review their lovely Advent Calendar again this year.  I'm very grateful as I love tea!  Thank you, Adagio Teas! 

24 Festive tea blends of tea to savor before Christmas Day are available in either lovely pyramid tea bags or as loose tea.  You may pick which you prefer when you order. 

You may be wondering what Sbrisolona Cookies are.  They are the most delicious, crunchy, crumbly, shortbread-like cookie made with almond flour and chopped almonds!  Usually called Torta Sbrisolona, because it made in one large piece, it normally contains fine corn meal and broken into rough pieces. There are many different variations!  I found a wonderful recipe which did not include corn meal and was cut into wedges, which I adapted and and absolutely loved.  I will definitely be making these again and again and will most likely show up on my Christmas cookie tray.  

The first time I tasted Sbrisolona was at a lovely Italian Restaurant in our area called Ca' Lucchenzo.  They were served along with a glass of Vin Santo sweet wine at the end of dinner but they are equally delicious any time of day...and especially with tea or coffee!  I decided to enjoy them with one of the teas from the Adagio Tea Advent Calendar.  

Ooops!  I've given away one of the teas included in the Advent Calendar! 😉 It's called Blueberry White Tea. It was absolutely delicious.  Just a hint of blueberry flavor and the white tea blend was very good and so refreshing.  I love their pyramid tea bags.  

Order your 2023 Advent Tea Calendar from Adagio Teas by clicking on the link Tea Advent Calendar and I hope you try making Sbrisolona Cookies! 

Sbrisolona Cookies

Printable Recipe

Makes 12  servings

Equipment: 9-inch square pan lined with parchment or a 9-inch springform or tart pan with removable bottom.  👉 If you wish your cookies to be even more crispy, use a slightly larger pan.  

1 ½ cups all purpose flour (270 grams) 👉 I used White Lily White Baking Flour

1 ½ cups almond flour (160 grams)

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 👉I used salted butter and reduced the salt by half

½ cup whole almonds, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 large egg

½ teaspoon almond extract 

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Topping:

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds (or decorate with whole almonds)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). 

Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper with the parchment overlaping the sides (to use as a handle to lift out the cookie) 👉 Photo Below. Or, grease a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan or a tart pan with a removable bottom. 

I used a food processor to coarsely chop the whole almonds and then finished chopping them to get the size I wanted (about the size of large diamonds) on a cutting board with a chef's knife.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix well to combine. 

Add the cold butter cubes to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or two knifes, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. The butter should be well distributed throughout the mixture, and be about the size of peas or smaller.  Stir the roughly chopped almonds and lemon zest into the crumbly mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg, almond extract and scraped insides of vanilla bean (or vanilla extract) together. Pour egg mixture over the dry ingredients. Using your hands, or a large fork, gently mix and press the mixture together until it begin to come together. Do not to overwork the dough; it should still be quite crumbly.

Transfer the crumbly dough into the prepared pan. Press it down firmly and evenly to form an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoon of granulated sugar over the top and press in coarsely chopped almonds.  I used a smaller square pan to press down on the mixture (covered with another piece of parchment paper) in order to get it evenly distributed in the pan. 

Bake the sbrisolona in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The center may still be slightly soft, but it will firm up as it cools.

Remove the sbrisolona from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once the cake has cooled, carefully remove it from the pan.  You may cut it or break it into pieces after it has cooled.  

👉 If the cut cookies lose their crispiness, put them on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes, as you would second-bake biscotti.  After they cool they will be nice and crispy again!

Cookies may be stored in a container at room temperature for 3-4 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  

Recipe adapted from This Italian Kitchen

Almond Shortbread and Adagio Tea

I have loved shortbread ever since I tasted my first bite.  I've tried many different recipes and usually I end up going back to my tried and true Classic Shortbread recipe, which you can view here and here (I love them so much I've posted them twice!).  Also delicious are these Pecan Shortbread cookies from Dorie Greenspan.  But today, I bring you Almond Shortbread cookies from Taste of Beirut. 

These shortbread cookies are quite popular in the Chouf Mountain area of Lebanon. The almond tree is native to the Middle East and was eventually brought to the United States in the 1700s by Franciscan Padres.  Now California is the world's largest supplier of almonds! Deliciously flaky and filled with finely chopped, toasted almonds these cookies have a delightful flavor and aroma.  I actually prefer them without the powdered sugar coating as it's been quite humid here in the Midwest and the sugar didn't stay pretty for long.  

We all know that cookies are perfect with coffee, milk or tea in the afternoon and tea is another of my loves.  Now that there is a hint of fall here and there, I will be enjoying hot tea more often in the afternoon.  

When Ashley from Adagio Teas asked if I would like to try a sampling of their teas I couldn't say YES fast enough!  I was able to select a sample of five different teas and there was another sample of iced tea brew sent with my box.  I loved reading about the family-owned business and how their company began and evolved.  I picked my samples based on reviews of 95 of greater and they were all wonderful. 

The sample packs come in resealable heavy weight plastic bags with about 15 pyramid tea pouches per bag and the Master Teas come in a small tin.  I began my tasting with my favorite flavor, Citrus Mint Green tea.  

As I filled the tea cup with hot water, the color and aroma was immediate.  I loved this flavor and I was able to get 3 tea cups full of delicious tea with one pouch.  My second favorite flavor was the White Peach that you can see below.  

#1 Green Citrus Mint contains green tea, spearmint leaves, lemon grass, lemon verbena, orange peels, marigold flowers, lemon and orange flavor.  

#2 White Peach contains white tea from China, apricots, natural peach flavor and marigold flowers.

My next favorites were a tie between the Formosa Ali Shan which is a Masters Tea (meaning premium and rare select teas, unique outside of Asia, and entirely hand processed), and the Jasmine Silver Needle.  Much more delicate in flavor, they were both delicious.

#3 Formosa Ali Shan is an oolong tea and brews into a creamy cup of tea, with notes of honeysuckle and lilac.  It may be steeped several times.

#4 Jasmine Silver Needle is a white tea with young long tea leaves, hence the name silver needle.  It has a classic Jasmine flavor but soft and delicate.  The aroma of this tea is beautiful!

#5 One of Adagio's most popular teas, traditional black tea called Irish Breakfast tea.  Everything a 'cuppa' should be in the morning...spicy aroma with deep flavor.  Enjoy with or without milk!

#6 Blood Orange Iced Tea Brew is an herbal mix of blood orange peels, hibiscus flowers and rose hips.  Each pouch makes about 4 cups of tea.  It's caffeine free and very refreshing!

I hope you enjoyed my little evaluation of Adagio Teas!  If you are a tea lover, as I am, or know someone who is, I hope you will visit their site and try some of their lovely teas.  Although the samples were provided to me by Adagio Teas my tastes and opinions are my own.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Printable Recipe

Adapted from Taste of Beirut 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cutter.

1 cup unsalted butter plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour (or cornstarch)  I used Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour
1-3/4 cups almonds, finely chopped in a food processor

1 cup powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a food processor, pulse almonds in short bursts until finely chopped (stopping to scrape the bottom edges frequently.  Don't over process or it will turn into almond butter! 

Place the finely chopped almonds on a small, rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes or so, until slightly golden and fragrant.  Remove and cool completely.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Slowly add in the AP flour and rice flour (or cornstarch) until incorporated, then add the cooled chopped almonds.

Cover dough and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

On a large sheet of parchment, waxed paper, or lightly floured surface, roll out one-third of the dough, using another sheet of parchment or waxed paper on top if the dough sticks to the rolling pin, to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.  Cut with a cookie cutter.  Incorporate scraps into next one-third of the dough and repeat.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 13-15 minutes or until light golden in color.  Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing. 

If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool enough to handle but still warm.  I preferred them without powdered sugar.